We're sitting in a room that's maybe 9 feet wide by 20 feet long, lined with countertops that hold 12 TV monitors. The screens let us spy upon what's normally one of the most private …
July 13, 2006
News & Stories
UCSD med school hires actors to train doctors
Peeled Onion
'Women were dominant consumers, making mostly anonymous purchases in supermarkets.'
Christ Community Church, Mira Mesa
The service opened with film clips: Adam Sandler doing a slow burn in Anger Management and Jane Fonda exploding with fury in Monster-in-Law . The congregation laughed throughout. Then a round of songs, ranging from …
July 13, 2006
Destination: Blues
'The whole thing about blues is the formula of the music," says Robb Bower, founder of the Blues Bash festival. "Most blues songs are built around three chords -- the one, the four, and the …
July 13, 2006
Crustacean Crust
Matt: Why do whales have barnacles but dolphins, porpoises, and orcas do not? -- Barnacle Bill the Sailor Whale of a generalization, Bill, but sorta true. Barnacles are common on humpbacks and gray whales, but …
July 13, 2006
Surgeon, Cut Thyself
Hi, Matt: You sometimes hear about people amputating their own leg or arm in an emergency. That makes me wonder. Has a surgeon ever performed surgery on himself? -- Lois, San Diego Sez the American …
July 13, 2006
Exciting New Sports Publication
It's Monday and per usual I'm sitting at the kitchen table perusing our nation's leading newspapers -- The National Enquirer, Star Magazine, Weekly World News, Globe -- when I experience a moment that Einstein or …
July 13, 2006
From sunny chaparral to limpid stream, the Granite Loop Trail at Santa Rosa Plateau near Temecula covers it all.
This mini-tour of the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Preserve, the jewel of southwestern Riverside County's remaining natural landscape, introduces you to a variety of hiking experiences -- in sun and in shade. The inclusion of …
July 13, 2006
Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers and Bums in America
Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America by Thomas Lutz. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006, $25, 384 pages. FROM THE BOOK JACKET: Couch potatoes, goof-offs, freeloaders, good-for-nothings, loafers, and loungers: …
July 13, 2006
It's Like Borg
"It's Like Borg in Star Trek; it just keeps eating stuff." This is the comment made last week by a local independent promoter who heard about Live Nation's purchase of House of Blues Entertainment for …
July 13, 2006
Now Hear This
The only local station that will play new music by Tom Petty, Neil Young, and Ziggy Marley may soon be reaching your ears for the first time. Triple-A (adult album alternative) station KPRI was recently …
July 13, 2006
Back when Anne Albright's breasts deflated like balloons
Thirty Years Ago The bare bottom of San Diego sport is epitomized by the face of Canadian entrepreneur and Sports Arena operator Peter Graham. This contemptuous double-dealer is the best case yet for confiscatory inheritance …
July 13, 2006
Ports of Call
On a midweek evening a few months ago, my partner and I rambled over to our brand-new neighborhood bistro, excited because in all of South Park/Golden Hill there are only two other genuine restaurants. "No …
July 13, 2006
Wails Like Cassandra
Malcolm Gladwell introduced the concept of snap decision-making in his book Blink. He wrote about experts being able to size up a situation (be it a failing relationship or the likelihood of a new product …
July 13, 2006
On the Bandwagon
"I have a kiosk -- actually, it's a cart -- in the Mission Valley mall," says assistant bank manager Persis Knipe, 28. Named My Stuff, Knipe's outdoor CD and clothing store opened July 1. "[The …
July 13, 2006
The Reader's Eye on Television
A woman bustles a child through a shopping mall as if he were one of the paper sacks she'd filled and purchased at a designer boutique. It seems harmless enough. You wouldn't expect something bad …
July 13, 2006
Enter the Octajohn
Local singer/songwriter Michael Tiernan performed in Texas at the 34th annual Kerrville New Folk Songwriter Contest over Memorial Day weekend. He competed against 32 other songwriters. "It's pretty much the American Idol of the folk …
July 13, 2006
Where's Angus?
Over burritos in Mission Valley, former local resort hotel concierge Juan Mas (not his real name) told of a visit paid by AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young: "My coworker Linda assisted him and I witnessed it. …
July 13, 2006
No Hot Spot
Music Trader district manager Darren Fionda was arrested in May at the chain's SDSU store for allegedly selling "pirated music." In a sting orchestrated by the Recording Industry Association of America, 195 discs were seized, …
July 13, 2006
Red Curb
I went to a Fourth of July party on July 1. When I got the call from Eric, he left a weird message. He told me there would be a dunk tank, lots of games, …
July 13, 2006
Floydian Slip
'The first Four Eyes album, recorded for MCA in 1982--1983, remains unreleased," says Mark DeCerbo. The guitarist/bassist/singer for Rockola and the Steely Damned founded Four Eyes in 1979 and revived the group late last year …
July 13, 2006
Do U-T Lawyers Read the Paper?
In attempting to get records of City Attorney Mike Aguirre's 1989 divorce unsealed, the Union-Tribune has proved definitively that it doesn't read its own newspaper. On a deeper level, the missteps the newspaper has made …
July 13, 2006
SDSU Preserves San Diego's Political History
Elected to the House of Representatives in 1952 and serving for 14 consecutive terms, Republican Bob Wilson saw plenty of paperwork come across his desk. In 1973, he began depositing it for future researchers at …
July 13, 2006
Same Same, But Different
From age to age, nothing changes, and yet everything...is completely different. -- Aldous Huxley David and I were distracted from the conversation when two young boys cruised by on bicycles. It wasn't the shiny red …
July 13, 2006
Harry vs. Abe
A group of San Diego Democrats has put together an organization intended to match the local GOP's Lincoln Club in fundraising prowess and ideological pragmatism. According to a blurb on its website, the newly hatched …
July 13, 2006
Guys and Dolls
The sentencing of John D'Intino, ex-cook, gun dealer, and onetime chief aide de camp to San Diego Cheetahs strip-club owner Mike Galardi, has been put off yet again, this time until September 28. The voluble …
July 13, 2006
Workin' on the River
Connecticut Democrat Connecticut Democrat Joe Lieberman, Al Gore's VP candidate in 2000 and Middle East hardliner, is locked in a tough Senate primary race with liberal Ned Lamont, a rabid opponent of the war in …
July 13, 2006
Bike Tires
As a child, I wore out a few bike tires riding around my New England hometown. The wind whipping against my face as I raced up and down hills was exhilarating. At adolescence, my bike …
July 13, 2006
Meg B. in San Quentin Village
Down The Street from the Death House The last time I had to look for a place to live, I looked outside of Marin County, where I've lived for 30 years. I moved to Marin …
July 13, 2006
Avocado Gives It Squelch
“Sweet tacos? Yeah, right. And you found Bigfoot munching there, too, I suppose?”
July 13, 2006